Printable View
So I found a horse trailer that the guy cut so its a flat bed. Its 16ft 10,000lbs does need a little work but its a good price. My thoughts are since the deck is pretty low it would make a good car trailer. Has anyone else used one of these for that? And will I need to beef up any parts of it? That's for the insight as always
i would say so.I have been looking for one just to store my wheels converter and such in.
Ok, didn't know if they would need a lot of work or anything to be a good trailer
Never come across one and thought about it- I would check the width between the fenders personally. That is going to be the "make or break" from the get-go. Most car haulers are from 78" to around 83" between the fenders. Mine is 82" which takes on almost anything- but a pickup truck with decent tires rubs my fenders EVERYTIME.
If the width is adequate, I'd see what kind of axles it has on it. Dual Axle to haul cars it would be minimally 3500 lb axles.
As long as the "foundation" is right- then all you have to worry about is doing the welding to fab it to the way you want it
;)
Better check the frame to make sure they didnt skimp on it and try to get some of the stability from the sides.
Bigdog-
I re-read your post- 10,000 lb trailer so you would have dual 5,000lb axles- yep- plenty strong enough to put cars on. Sorry I'm exhausted and had to re-visit the thread to see that you already said its weight rating!
I'd still check that fender to fender width.. other than that you should be good to go with 16 feet and 5K axles.
Fender width is plenty that's the first thing I measured, under neath looks like 1/4 angle but I'm not 100% sure. In my mind if it could hold horses and extra stuff a car should be ok on it. Its already complently flat and sits low so I think with some good ramps ill be in business
Horses are heavy critters and some are worth far more than a car,so I would say it would haul a car no problem weight wise. If your fabrication skills are good enough,how about converting to a tilt bed with a winch ? You wouldnt need ramps and could drag cars on without wheels. We have a couple of guys come into our yard with these.
We want pictures.. We want pictures!!Quote:
Originally Posted by bigdog72
:)
Does it have working lights and wiring?....I know this is not very expensive but it is needed as to not attract attention from our buddies......Also does it have title it is a major PIA around here to get a tag for a trailer without title
Couple things to check before you get too excited...
1. I'm a little suspicious of "5,000 lb" rated axles. All the axles I've seen are 3500 or 6000 lb axles. Unless there's a tag on the frame that states the load rating, I would consider the axles as 3500 lbs each. Still a respectable load. Another way to cross check would be to figure horses are about 1000-1200 lbs each. Was it a 4 horse trailer? That's a 4000-5000 lb load.
2. The frame is the next thing to have a look at. There should be two fair heavy members running the 16 foot length of the trailer that the axles tie to through the springs. You mentioned you thought it might be 1/4" angle. Unh-oh!! I had borrowed a cheapest of the cheap 16' car hauler, which had a bend in the middle, and even it had reinforced 4" channel iron as a frame. What size is that angle? Are they 4x4x1/4"?
Part Time Scrapper nailed it--some trailer manufacturers will use the sides of the trailer as extra structure so they can scrimp on the frame rails underneath. It kinda sounds like this trailer might have been built that way. A decent car hauler should have 6" or even 8" channel under it.
Not a big deal, if you can get the thing cheap enough. Get a couple of pieces of 6" channel and get a welder friend to glue them underneath to beef up the existing frame rails.
Hope this helps,
Jon.
I should be bringing it home soon an will put pictures up, it has a title and on the title is rated for 10,000lbs. Its got lights but ill probably be adding some just as my preference, also has electric breaks. The tilt bed idea I might look into to see what's all involved but I should be putting my winch on soon after I get it home. Now for underneath that's what I was wondering, I didn't crawl under or get a great look at what all it had, but like I said if it will hold horses won't it hold a car? Once I get a better look I might add some supports just to be safe that's where having a welder comes in handy, not to mention the various scrap pieces I have at my disposal :)
I have built two scrap trailers and one service trailer from horse trailers. All of the advice listed above is pertinent, but the one question left unanswered is the type of hitch, bumper or gooseneck. If it is a gooseneck, another set of problems are created. I would be willing to address these, if it is a gooseneck.
it was a bumper pull but I ended up not getting it after the title he thought he had wasnt for it and I found a bigger one close by